INFLUENCE OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CASSAVA SETTS ON CO-EFFICIENT OF STATIC FRICTION

M. DINESH PANDI¹*, D. ASOKAN², J. JOHN GUNASEKAR³, VALLAL KANNAN^4
1Department of Farm Machinery and Bio-Energy, Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, 621712
²Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, 621712, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003
³Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, 621712, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003
⁴Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, 621712, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003
* Corresponding Author : pandi.dinesh@gmail.com

Received : 17-10-2017     Accepted : 21-10-2017     Published : 24-10-2017
Volume : 9     Issue : 48       Pages : 4806 - 4809
Int J Agr Sci 9.48 (2017):4806-4809

Keywords : Cassava setts, Moisture content, Coefficient of friction
Academic Editor : J Ramachandran
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The author acknowledges Dr. Asokan, Dr. J. John Gunasekar and Dr.Vallal Kannan for helping in research and thank to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003 for providing an opportunity to undergo this Ph.D. Programme
Author Contribution : All authors are equally contributed

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a major staple food in the developing world. The manual planting of cassava demands a large quantity of human labour. It is a time-consuming, unpleasant, and arduous job. The labor shortage is one of the major constraints in manual cassava planting. In order to design and develop the cassava planter, the selection of material is important. The study is important for the selection of hopper material for the planter. This is found out by using the friction apparatus designed based on the physical properties (moisture content) of the cassava setts. By considering the physical properties, a test rig was fabricated. The test rig consists of feed trough, angle indicator and screw shaft. The angle of feed trough can be adjusted manually by screw conveyor shaft. Cassava setts were placed on a feed trough. In order to evaluate the co-efficient friction with different moisture contents, two different cassava sett lengths of 65mm and 100mm were selected based on the number of nodes. The samples were placed against the different material surface like mild steel, galvanised steel sheet, aluminium, acrylic sheet. Observation was taken for consecutive four days. It was observed that the co-efficient of

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